The ISIS Gambit

XLI

“Mahdi flight, execute turn.” And with that, the entire flight took a new heading of two-nine-six degrees.

“Mahdis. Fuel check. Let’s get all of you topped off.”

“Roger that,” came the eight replies. And with that, the F-16s loaded with the B-61 nuclear bombs topped off their fuel tanks. The remaining fuel in the tankers went to their fighter escort. Once the refueling had been completed, the entire fleet climbed to an altitude of 43,000’ and increased their speed to Mach one.

“Ma’am, we just received another transmission from this ‘Mahdi’ flight. Sounds like they’re making their final refueling for the flight.”

“Any idea where they’re at?”

“Negative, we’ve got nothing on radar but their communications are coming in loud and clear. We first herd them twenty-five minutes ago when we were up here,” the communications sergeant pointed to his plot on the map. “Now, we’ve been on a heading of two-two-zero for close to fifteen minutes — heading away from that previous comm intercept and they’re still coming in five by five. We’re on the right track, ma’am. Archangel wanted us southwest of Baghdad. We might want to step on it.”

“Agreed, sergeant. I’ll tell the pilot to firewall it.”

The race was on, though only one side knew of the contest, and the prize.

“Nightwatch, what are you doing here?” Chaos asked as their ride showed up just past the rubble caused by the bombing from Bengal Six. “Thought you’d be with the rest of the team heading up to the air strip.”

“Yeah, well, I figured that you might appreciate a controller in your group since we’re separated from everyone else at this point. You know, just in case something unexpected happens.”

“Right, ‘cause something unexpected never happens,” Arielle added sarcastically. “Glad to see you, Nightwatch.”

“You, too, Arielle.”

“Any sign of trouble on the way down here?” Chaos asked.

“Nothing when I left but this place is just swarming with bad guys. At least it’s dark out so if we can get past the intersection at the Odessa hotel we should be fine. We’ve got two major streets running parallel to this one just a few blocks over so we could have an ISIS force on top of us up there before we know it.”

“Chaos, this is Ghostrider. Looks like you’ve got a welcoming party a few blocks ahead of you up at the Odessa Hotel. We’re going to try and break up that party for you before you get there. Keep your heads down.”

“Roger that, Ghostrider. Also, there’s two streets running parallel just to the west of us — we need those completely cut so no one can get through.”

“Gotcha Chaos. Ready for some fireworks?”

“Fire at will, Ghostrider.”

Seconds later, the intersection a couple hundred yards ahead of them erupted from multiple blasts from Ghostrider’s 105mm canon.

“Nice work, Ghostrider,” Chaos said. “Looks like our immediate problem’s out of the way. Thanks for the assist.”

“Not a problem, Chaos. That’s what were here for. Be advised, Bengal’s dropping the JDAMs as requested. These should take care of the alternate routes you mentioned. Okay, you’ve got two major intersections left to get by and both of them are starting to draw a crowd. It seems like you’ve stirred up a bit of a hornets nest down there.”

Even though it was dark, every ISIS fighter in the neighborhood could hear the truck coming. By the time they reached the Odessa Hotel intersection, every tire had been flattened by ISIS fire. With the truck now running on the rims, sparks shot out from every rim leaving a trail of sparks that not only lit up the night but also set fire to some of the debris scattered along the street.

“Ghostrider, go ahead and do what you can to close every street leading towards Highway 6. If it takes Bengal’s complete inventory to close every street and road that intersects with it, do it.”

“Roger that, Chaos.”

“Viking Actual, Chaos. How’re we looking up there?”

“Chaos, right now it’s relatively quiet. We can hear all of the firing coming from your direction but we haven’t seen much ourselves. I don’t expect it to stay that way for long, based on the volume of fire coming from your direction. Conti just showed up with his team. We’re simply waiting on your group right now.”

“We’re on the way. Just reached the Odessa Hotel so we’re only about a mile out. Go ahead and get team three out of here along with all but one of the Hercs. That’ll leave just Conti’s team two and the team with us. Ghostrider just told us that we might have a little excitement reaching you guys but we should be able to fight our way out of it — if not, we shouldn’t need more than the extra team with Ghostrider providing the top cover for us.”

“Roger that, releasing all but one of the Odin flights,” Commander Edberg replied. “See you in a few.”

“Nightwatch, how we looking?” Chaos asked his controller.

“I think we can fight our way through the first intersection but Ghostrider’s advising the second one’s looking a bit dicey. That intersection’s still more than half a mile from the airstrip so I don’t want an airstrike there if we can help it. I’ve had some Apaches clearing the way for us but it’s a mess up there. I don’t want to block or crater the street as we’d be on foot the rest of the way.”

“Colonel, Madam Secretary, we need you to stay down,” Arielle told both women. “It might get a little hot here in a second.”

“Bullsh — umph!” Colonel Marshall began when an ISIS round hit the chest plate of her body armor. “Ah, that hurt. As I was about to say, I’m a lieutenant colonel. Give me a damned weapon to shoot back!”

“Here ya go, Colonel,” Arielle said as she handed an M-4 to her, along with several spare magazines. Marshall immediately checked the existing magazine and charged the weapon. She had clearly used one before. “All set?” Arielle asked the colonel as she tightened her ponytail.

“All set, Arielle. Let’s do this!”

“Ma’am, I need you to curl up as best you can on the floor underneath me,” Stonewall told Secretary Johnson. “This shouldn’t last long, but it’s going to be intense.”

“Okay, ready when you are.”

“Nightwatch, any Apaches left for CAS?” Chaos asked.

“That’s a negative. They’re all Winchester. We’ve used every one of them. We’ve got the Bengal flight, a few Hogs and Ghostrider. We still have plenty of firepower available.”

“Okay, I want two strafing runs from the Hogs with their cannons sweeping each side of the street ahead of us. We’ll follow just as soon as the second run is completed.”

“Calling it in,” Nightwatch replied.

“Viking we’re approaching the first intersection. We’ve got a couple Hogs making a strafing run and we’ll be right behind them.”

“Roger that, let me know if you’ll need any help.”

No sooner had Viking replied to Chaos than the sound of an enormous zipper once again erupted directly overhead of the American team. Not five seconds later, a second stream of tracers erupted from the second Warthog just a few hundred feet above them. The first couple floors of every building on each side of the street had been completely decimated. Absolutely no one could survive the onslaught of the thirty millimeter cannon fire. However, in the dark, no one could tell that several buildings along the route had five and six stories.

“Okay, let’s go!” Chaos ordered the driver.

“Viking, we just passed the first intersection. Sixty seconds out.”

“Roger that. I’ll start loading up!”

“Okay, here’s the second inter — AH! SHIT!!!” Stonewall howled out as an ISIS team suddenly sprayed the truck down with a barrage of automatic weapons fire from the fifth and sixth floors of the apartment building directly above them. Most took rounds in the body armor including Arielle, Marshall, Falcon, and Nightwatch. The front of the truck received the greatest concentration of fire, killing the driver and, since Stonewall had positioned himself directly behind the driver, he got hit as well. The truck quickly veered off the street and came to an abrupt stop after striking the front of an apartment complex.

Arielle heard Stonewall’s cry first; the sudden stop quickly threw her on top of Secretary Johnson. “Moose, get us out of here,” she ordered. Moose immediately jumped out of the back of the truck and pushed the driver out of the way to get the truck back on the street.

“Ghostrider, Arielle. Chaos is down. We need an immediate strafing run on the building directly above us. Take out the upper floors, both sides of the street. Danger Close, my initials are D Y—Delta Yankee—HOSE IT DOWN!!!” she ordered as she quickly tended to Stonewall. She already had his pant leg completely torn open at the knee revealing a lower leg that had just been shredded. The bullet, coming down from the sixth floor of the apartment above them, struck the back of the knee, hit and broke the large calf bone, traveled down the calf and exited at the ankle, breaking the ankle as it exited.

“Roger that, Arielle. Keep your heads down.”

“Ahh! Jeez, that hurts!” Stonewall howled.

“Hold still! I need to get a tourniquet on you. Your leg’s a bloody mess! It looks like you’ve either taken several rounds to the calf or one nasty one that completely shredded your leg. This is going to hurt like hell but I need to try and bandage it,” she added as she gave him a dose of ketamine.

“Moose, we’ve got more strafing runs coming just above us,” Arielle hollered as the SEAL began backing the truck away from the building.

“Roger that. I’ll try to dodge anything that falls our way!”

“Viking, Arielle. Chaos is down. We ran into a buzz saw. We’ve got more people hurt than people to tend to them. Have your medic ready when we get there — we’re going to need some help. We’re back on the street,” she continued as Ghostrider’s thirty millimeter Gatling gun unleashed a steady barrage interrupting her transmission, “and should be there in a minute or two. Be prepared for a hot evac.”

“Roger that, Arielle. We’ll be standing by.”

“How ya doin’?” Arielle asked Stonewall, her concern very obvious.

“Hurts like hell. This really hurts. How’s everyone else?”

“We’ve got multiple wounded. I think half a dozen of us got hit with that last barrage but we’re almost out of here.”

“The Secretary?”

“She’s fine. Looks like that round you took might have hit her had you not been covering her. Hold still. Your leg’s been shattered so we need to splint it,” Arielle added as she prepared the SAM splint.

“Falcon, I’m going to need some help here,” Arielle ordered. “When I lift his leg, I need you to set the splints.”

“Okay, Stonewall, ready on three, two… now!”

“Ahh!!!!” Stonewall hollered.

“Moose, how we doing?” Arielle asked.

“The plane’s in sight and looks ready to go.”

“Viking, we have you in sight,” Arielle radioed. “We’re going to need some help with our wounded and casualties.”

“I see you. We’re ready when you get here.”

“Archangel, Arielle.”

“Arielle, Archangel here, go ahead.”

“Archangel, we’re at the evac site and have several wounded needing immediate medical attention. Requesting immediate divergence to Al-Asad air base.”

“Understood, Arielle. What’s the status of Secretary Johnson and Colonel Marshall? Any idea as to the number of wounded?”

“The Secretary’s got a broken leg. Colonel Marshall’s relatively fine, though she took a beating before we got to her. She’s got a broken nose and probably some broken ribs but nothing too severe. We have about a dozen others needing attention with a couple critical.”

“Understood… and Chaos?

“He’s taken at least one round in the knee, possibly a couple more in the lower leg. It’s hard to tell. His leg is pretty mangled and he’s lost a lot of blood.”

“Roger that. Proceed to Al-Asad. We’ll have medical standing by.”

“Mahdi flight. I’m picking up an airborne tracking radar,” the ISIS flight leader said to his command. “We need to assume we’ve been discovered. Light ‘em up!”

“Archangel, Desert Hawk Two-Six.”

“Desert Hawk Two-Six, Archangel, go ahead.”

“Archangel, we’ve located Raid One. Forty-two aircraft located at twenty-nine degrees thirty-eight minutes north, forty-two degrees six minutes east. Angels forty-three, course two-nine-five degrees at 770 knots and increasing. They’re moving!”

“Desert Hawk, if I’m hearing you right, they’re currently about 430 miles east, southeast of Jerusalem.”

“That’s affirmative, Archangel.”

“Stay with them as best you can, two six. They’ll outrun you soon, I know but hopefully, we’ll have someone else on them at that point.”

‘Roger that.”

“Gamecock Two-Six, Archangel,” Admiral Fischer called to the Raptor squadron commander.

“Archangel, Gamecock Two-Six, go ahead.”

“Gamecock Two-Six, what’s your current status and position?”

“Archangel, we’re at about fifty miles due north of Al-Qa’im. Four of us in this flight.”

“Gamecock Two-Six, come to course two-three-zero degrees. We have an in-bound ISIS raid consisting of forty-two aircraft, currently 420 miles east, southeast of Jerusalem, angels forty-three supersonic at 770 knots and accelerating. It is believed this is a nuclear strike. Firewall it Two-Six. We’ll have tanker support standing by. Weapons are free.”

“Lancer Three-Six, Archangel.”

“Archangel, Lancer Three-Six. Go ahead.”

“Lancer Three-Six, what’s your current position and status?”

“Archangel, we’re about halfway between Raqqa and Palmyra, six of us in flight, air-to-air config, eight Slammers each. I got wind that some of the Turkish Vipers might try to intervene and I figured we had enough close air support so I told my guys to go with the Slammers.”

“Excellent. We’re tracking an inbound ISIS raid of forty-two aircraft, now roughly four hundred miles east, southeast of Jerusalem on a heading of two-nine-one degrees at roughly 790 knots. This is believed to be a nuclear strike. I need your flight down there to intercept them just as fast as you can get there. I’ve also dispatched the Gamecocks as well but not sure who’ll get there first. Tanker support will follow behind you. Firewall it Three-Six. Weapons are free.”

“General Kaufman, Admiral Fischer at Centcom. We’re tracking an inbound ISIS raid currently about four hundred miles southeast of Jerusalem. We believe this is a nuclear strike. I’ve dispatched a Raptor and an Eagle flight to intercept them. ETA is about fifteen minutes.”

“Good Lord. Are you sure of this?”

“Yes, sir. We’ve also recovered all of the hostages. Secretary Johnson and Colonel Marshall were the last to be rescued. We don’t have all of the details but the Secretary sustained a broken leg in the rescue. We don’t have any word on wounded and casualties, and this was bloodier than we expected. At some point, Lieutenant Colonel Yaniv assumed command of the rescue operation.”

“Bloody hell. Okay, I’ll let the President know. Go ahead and brief the Israelis.”

“Will do.”

“General Eitan, this is Admiral Jack Fischer of US Central Command. We’re currently tracking an ISIS raid that’s roughly four hundred miles southeast of Jerusalem. We believe this is a nuclear strike aimed at Israel.”

“My God!”

“We currently have an Eagle and a Raptor flight in bound to intercept them and I fully believe we’ll take out the entire strike force before it even gets within a hundred miles of Israel. However, if any of them manage to get through, we expect them to be on a heading of two-nine-one degrees and well within range of David’s Sling.”

“Thank you, Admiral. We’ll be watching.”

“How’s everyone doing?” Stonewall asked Arielle as they approached Al Asad Airbase.

“Monty’s the worst right now. We’ve stopped the bleeding but he’s at least lost the one leg. We’ve done what we can to try and save the other one. The Secretary’s in a lot of pain with her broken leg. Her body armor stopped another round so I’m sure she’ll have some sore ribs but she should be okay. There’s a few others but you and Monty are the worst.”

“How’re you doing?” Stonewall asked as she removed her body armor, leaving only her Under Armour sports bra on for a top.

“Oh, you know, I took two rounds in the chest and another in the back, but not all at the same time. The lungs are good this time,” she added with a grin. In their previous engagement, she suffered a collapsed lung after taking two rounds simultaneously in the back and the chest.

“Well, you do make a sexy target.”

“You think so, huh? Too bad you won’t be seeing any action, of any kind, for a few weeks anyway, Cowboy,” Arielle replied with a wide smile on her face. “You’ve got one badly mangled leg.”

“That sounds like a challenge,” Stonewall added as he tried to sit up. “Oh, Jeez that hurts!”

“I told ya. Now lay still. I don’t want you losing any more blood than you already have.”

“Gamecock Two-Six, Lancer Three-Six, I’ve got forty-two bandits at one-six-seven degrees from me, bearing two-nine-one at eight hundred knots, distance ninety-five miles.”

“Three-Six. I see ‘em, range 125 miles. Looks like you’ll get to them first.”

“You’ll need to do some cleanup for us. We won’t be able to take’em all.”

“Understand, Three-Six. We should be able to get’em all between the two of us.”

“Lancer flight, we’ll close to fifty miles before we engage. I don’t want to get within their missile range.” The Lancer Eagles carried the advanced AIM-120D air-to-air missile which had a decided range advantage over anything previously supplied to the Turkish air force.

“Mahdi flight, move to intercept. We need our brothers to get through.” And with that, thirty-two F-16s left formation and changed their heading to intercept the approaching Lancer flight. The active electronically scanned array radars in both the approaching F-15s and the F-22s picked up the shift in the ISIS formation.

“Gamecock Two-Six, you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Roger that, Lancer. You’re closer. You going to try and take out the escorts or are you going to bore in for the eight on the far side? We’ll be able to pick them up if you want to take the escorts.”

“Gamecock Two-Six, we’ll take as many of the escorts as we can. Not sure that we can get all of them but we’ll try.”

“Lancer Three-Six, that’s fine. Doesn’t look they can see us anyway,” the Raptor flight lead replied, indicating that the stealthy nature of the F-22 completely hid them from the ISIS Vipers. “Looks like they’re all headed towards you guys.”

“Lancer flight, fire on my mark: Three, two, one, mark!” For even the experienced pilots of the Lancer flight, the visual display of the mass missile launch was impressive as thirty-six AIM-120D missiles suddenly leapt off of the rails of the supersonic Eagles in the night sky. The counter measures launched by each of the Eagles further enhanced the nighttime fireworks. “Lancer flight, break and let’s go find Texaco. Gamecock, we’re Winchester and heading to refuel. The bandits are all yours.”

“Roger that. Looks like you guys did pretty good. I’ve got eight remaining escorts and the eight special targets. Gamecock flight, doesn’t look like they can see us so ignore the escorts and go right for the last eight. We’ll pick up the escorts once we’ve eliminated the primary targets.”

The four F-22s of the Gamecocks flew to within twenty miles of the last of the ISIS F-16s. The Viper pilots never had a chance with the stealthy Raptors — they simply couldn’t see the threat on their radars. Each Raptor fired six AIM-120D missiles at the eight target aircraft — three missiles per target. It was all over in seconds.

“Archangel, Gamecock Two-Six. The targets have been eliminated. Hitting the remaining escorts.”

“Roger that, Gamecock.”